Queens Of Hearts

Presented by:

North Wind Concerts

Event Details

Women living in England at the turn of the 17th century were expected to play instruments and sing to improve their marriage prospects, but to be composers and professional musicians was an avenue unavailable to them. Despite this, through the keyboard music of Bull and Byrd, the lute songs of Coprario and Campion, and the gamba music of Hume, we catch a glimpse of the heights of domestic music through the life of young Princess Elizabeth Stuart.

On the continent in Italy, convents provided vibrant musical communities where women could both perform and compose music, as heard in the music of Claudia Francesca Rusca. Following singer-lutenist-composers Francesca Caccini and Maddalena Casulana and keyboardist Lucia Coppi, we explore how they navigated Renaissance Italy as professional musicians and composers. 

Louise Hung, harpsichord; Jane Fingler, soprano; Jonathan Stuchbery, lute; Felix Deak, bass viol.